The bed beside him had a new occupant. Johann hadn't given the arrival a second glance. The events of the day before were still hanging heavy and he didn't like to look that way and consider the previous occupant and the events.

It had been a long, lonely night with his thoughts and fitful sleep. He was exhausted both mentally and physically, still very pale and interesting with dark eyes. He had complied docilely to all requests for examination, blood letting from healers in training, and drunk more water than he had consumed in a lifetime, or so it felt.

Since the occurrence the day before with Healer Darrion and Jacoba, he had point blank refused any type of potion. He trusted the healers, but he could not trust their supplies. Hellebore could be drowned out of him, he decided.

Breakfast had been more than modest, but he had fought to keep it down, determined, despite the protests of his stomach. It was disagreeable at the best of times, but the tainted hellebore had made it feel like it was turning itself inside out. The fear of what it had done to accelerate the damage nagged at the corner of his mind. Middle of next year suddenly a lot nearer.

Propped against the pillows, blinking sleepily, he lifted his mother's poetry book back onto the bedside table on top of the blue logbook. Shifting back he prodded the point in his arm where more than a few samples of blood had been taken over the past couple of days. Lix had taken it an hour or so ago, telling him he was missing out on seeing her neat technique by resolutely looking the other way.

As he glanced up to give a sigh, and caught sight of a familiar figure approaching and tried to look sharp.
"Afternoon," He greeted, voice still a bit rough but sounding more himself. "Another pint for the vampire donations?" He raised his arm with a smirk towards Arcturus and made an effort to sit up properly. "See, alive, coherent, even cracking jokes. You can let me out can't you?" He adopted a hopeful but somewhat pathetic expression. "I'd like to enjoy my remaining functioning organs at home, if that's alright?"

Only afternoon, and Arcturus had pinched the bridge of his nose about twenty times already. He hadn't actually had enough sleep - five to six hours was all he'd done for the past few days. Any less and he'd be falling asleep on his feet, but he couldn't have any more.

More deaths the past few days, including the previous day. Timothy Dale was still at least breathing, but compared to all the other patients he hadn't been given such a high dose of concentration. Arcturus felt the heavy lead ball of guilt tugging at his chest. If that kid died...that would be the youngest person he'd ever let slip from this world.

The cynical voice that usually muttered snarky comments about situations was absent today. He was used to that; it vanished when his mood was so low there wasn't any necessity for having it around. If there was a concept of being on the extreme side of sober to the point he'd come out the other side, this was probably how it would feel like. He was tired. He was stressed. About the only level of courtesy he had energy for was a basic grasp of niceties, and thus right now he wasn't saying much for the fear of accidentally being rude to someone.

The healer was up at the front desk checking on the list of patients admitted to the ward - repeatedly, as he was so tired he was losing focus and would end up reading the first line over and over - when a familiar name caught his eye. Johann Storm. Arcturus checked through the notes on him. Despite all the man had been through, he was still alive. That was good enough for him. He was also taking up space in the ward, and while Arcturus wanted to make sure that Johann was indeed ready to go home, he didn't have the time or space to keep him there any longer. Besides, it would be better for the man to get out of here. Get out of this space full of the distressed healers and visitors, and the sick and dying.

He filled out the discharge papers with some difficulty, but it wasn't anything he hadn't done before. The hellebore was almost out of his system; a few more days with proper care would ensure that he got out of it fine and hopefully without any other side effect that would rear its ugly head in the days following his discharge. All he could just hope for now was that Johann could walk to the floo. That was it.

Arcturus spent an additional few minutes figuring out the various other papers and making copies before heading back to Johann's bed. With the way that things were right now, he figured that he didn't look quite as presentable as he had before all this started, but that was the thing he was least mindful of right now.

"Afternoon. Another pint for the vampire donations? See, alive, coherent, even cracking jokes. You can let me out can't you? I'd like to enjoy my remaining functioning organs at home, if that's alright?"

The healer handed him the papers with nary a smile to offer. He would have attempted if he didn't feel so horrible about laughing in this scenario. Usually he'd be able to joke or even crack a smile, but the past few days had taken quite a toll on him. If he tried to laugh he'd probably end up in tears. "I assume Balfour will pick you up. Have you got a fresh pair of clothes, or is he bringing them? Either way, you're free to go. I told him when you were asleep and he was here to see you to come today, so he'll be coming soon enough."

A yawn forced itself out. Arcturus caught himself a little too late, but he resumed standing there as if nothing had happened. Utterly dead, tired tone. If Johann found that rude or annoying, the healer wouldn't deny it. He just needed to take a few drops of Awakening Potion - again - before resuming work.

Annnnd that would be his attempts at humour falling flat for probably the thousandth time since he had first spoken to Arcturus a year ago. There were rare moments where he could make Hollingbury crack a smile, even rarer golden snitch like moments where he might even laugh. Since Arcturus had come back from his research in Malaysia, Johann couldn't really think of any of those moments. He felt altogether less happy for the realisation and his joking, forced bright smile fell away.

He received the papers and glanced over them, realising to his surprise and pleasure that they were authorising his departure. He needn't have made the joke at all.
"I assume Balfour will pick you up."
"I.."
"Have you a fresh pair of clothes, or is he bringing them?"
"He brough-"
"Either way you're free to go. I told him when you were asleep and he was here to see you, to come today, so he'll be coming soon enough."

Johann fell quiet and stared at Arcturus a moment. He looked no better than his patient did.
"Thank you." He replied quietly and nodded. Every other word, every response to the questions had been extinguished on his lips. It wasn't the time, Arcturus just wanted him gone.

There was a cry from a nearby bed - little Tim Dale, another of Arc's patients. It distracted both of the wizards and Johann watched Arcturus go immediately to the family. He watched a moment in fear for the little boy. Not another one to go, he hoped. But within moments the expressions of those around the bed suggested all was a lot better and he let out a little sigh of relief.

It was time to get the hell out of hospital, whether Balfour did appear or not. There was a bed, or a sofa and a paper bag full of strange ingredients to make a tonic which all had his name on back at Atreus.

Watching Johann's face drop was horrible, yet Arcturus had expected it. For Johann, he had a glimmer of hope of getting out of here. For himself, there wasn't any. He might as well live with it.

"Thank you." Arcturus hesitated. He wasn't that far down scraping the bottom of the barrel yet.

"You're better now," he said quietly and awkwardly. He was not up for long talks. "Would be best for you to leave. You don't like the hospital, right? Go home and get better and not be with dying people. I wish you well."

Raised voices from the other side of the ward made him turn around, and then hurry off without another word when he realised it was coming from the Dales. They made way for him, just in time to let him see the little boy stir, if tiredly. Like a golden drop of Felix Felicis, a glimmer of hope shone.

A check of the pulse, temperature, everything - Timothy had escaped most of the danger without much. The little boy gave him a smile before slipping back into sleep, but it was not the deep darkness of a comatose slumber; rather, the sleep beget by exhaustion, marking the beginning of the road to recovery.  Arcturus could only give a tired half-smile as he watched, and then turned to give the good news to the family.

By the time he was done, the bed Johann had occupied was vacant. Arcturus stood in the corridor for a minute, wishing he'd not been that curt and to the point with the man as he had been. But that time was past and there was nothing he could do about it, as much as he wanted to, and the world moved on.